All Eyes On Us
by WayUp
Summary: It's Senior year for the popular Hollywood Arts gang, and things are eventually going to go up and then down, spinning them around. They are truly in for a roller coaster ride. Are they ready? Can their relationships survive senior year? TANDRE with a little BADE AND CABBIE
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious. That's between Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon.

Gazing at the stars from the hood of his shiny black corvette, Andre became entransed in thought. What was he thinking about? It's pretty simple. He was thinking about the future. His future after high school, his future with his friends, and most definitely, his future with his girlfriend of 3 months, Tori Vega (technically it's 5 if you include the two months they dated for before they broke up).

The thought of senior year steadily approaching him and his group of friends didn't sit well with the ever so passionate musician. Of course he was a little anxious to finally feel the feelings associated with the final lap of high school. Yet, what was he to expect? The unpredictable nature of the future wrestled with him for his sanity. In words of much more simplicity, Andre was scared, terrified at that, and with the first day of the school year approaching, he was a nervous wreck.

"Tori Tori Tori Tori!" squealed an exuberant Cat Valentine, as she ran from the school's doors into the arms of the beautiful brunette standing at her locker.

"Cat Cat Cat Cat!" responded a bit less excited Tori as she laughed at her adorably animated friend. Cat's excitement when she saw Tori would make any average Joe think that they haven't seen each other since the last day of school. On the contrary, they've been spending time with each other all summer long. Even as late as three nights prior.

"How does it feel? You know..being a senior and all" questioned Cat as she playfully nudged her friend.

"It's alright. I actually feel the same as I did last year, I guess I gotta get in the groove of things before I start to feel 'seniory' " formed out Tori.

" Leave it up to Vega to make up a word as lame as 'seniory' " said the confident goth as she approached the two girls.

"Jade!" Both girls screamed as they tackled her with hugs. She and Tori got a bit closer over the summer, yet no one can really pin down how or why. Maybe it had to do with their slightly increased level of maturity, that, and/or the relationship advice they've been giving each other over the summer.

Unlike Tori and Cat, Jade had spent majority of the summer in England. So the first day of school had been the first time the girls have seen her since about 3 weeks after school closed. Of course that excludes the many Skype calls they had with her either on their own or as a group.

Jade rolled her eyes at her bubbly friends with a small smile forming on her dark full lips.

" We missed you...how was the flight back?" asked Tori as she and Cat released their grip on her.

"Rough." Bluntly stated Beck, who quickly kissed his girlfriend on the cheek from behind.

"So rough that she spazzed out on the flight attendant" he continued, while embracing Cat and Tori.

"She spazzed first! Who says ' I'm sorry, you'll have to ask the pilot about that'" mocked Jade. "When really, if I wanted to ask the pilot I wouldn't have been asking her." She continued.

Tori and Beck shook their heads at the girl under the influence of humor and playful disapproval.

"Hey Beck, have u seen Andre since u got here?" questioned a concerned Tori.

"Nah, only saw Rob at the Asphalt getting coffee a little earlier. Why?"

"Nothing, just haven't heard from him since last night" responded the slim Latina. Her and Andre's relationship has been pretty good since they got back togeher. The insecurity on both parts is definitely there, as a result of the months surrounding their split. But other than that, they've just been Tori and Andre. Though they may question their loyalty to one another because of that dark hour they faced, there is one sure thing that stands in their relationship, even if it's the only sure thing. That is the undying love they have for each other. They don't really know if they are in love, but they do know that they truly love each other. And maybe, maybe that's all that matters.

Fifteen minutes passed, comprised of conversing and sharing stories with one another. Robbie even joined through group of teens as their conversation migrated from the lockers to the stairs. Just seconds before the bell rang..

"Andre!" pointed out Cat, as the boy dressed in a light grey tee, black jeans and air jordan 7 Bordeaux walked into the school's doors. The group lit up with satisfaction in seeing their friend finally arrive.

"My long lost brother" said Beck in a chill yet pleased tone, as he greeted Andre with a man hug.

"I wasn't the one away for 3 weeks bro" said Andre with a smile while returning the semi-embrace.

"Would've been 8 weeks if he had left when I did" chimed in Jade, smartly throwing a jab at Beck as she gave Andre a hug.

"Next time babe" chuckled Beck as he took in his girlfriend's glare.

-BELL RINGS-

"Just in time Andre" noted Robbie as he took Cat's hand into his leading her off the stairs where she sat beside Tori, straight to his side. While the pair walked off in the direction of Cat's next class (following Jade and Beck's departure), he gave Andre a pat on the back with a light smile and Andre did the same.

"As always" he responded.

"Nope, you're a little late actually" inserted Tori as she got up to approach her boyfriend.

"And how is that?" he asked, hands now resting on the brunette's waist as he looked into her eyes with a knowing smirk.

"You missed our first day kiss. No worries though, we can always do it next year...oh yeah, there won't be a next year." playfully concluded Tori, while walking away from her boyfriend who was still being amused by her. "Woah there, not so fast" he quickly turned in her direction, grabbing her hand gently to pull her back into his gaze. " Someone call security, the late bandit is trying to make me late for class " yelled out Tori, loud enough to be called a yell, but not loud enough for anyone to hear. Laughing at her, Andre concluded "You can go right after you kiss me".

"Not." stated the singer.

"You know you want tooo" Andre sang.

"Not as much as you think" she wittily responded.

"Oh really now?"

"mhm" confidence spoke from her tongue.

"Prove it" he stated, and in a nano second he locked his lips locked with hers. Soon after she melted into the kiss and began to kiss him back.

"Harris! Vega!" shouted Helen, jumping the teens out of their kiss " It's 6 minutes after 9. Class! Now!"

Andre stole a kiss on her cheek, and they grinned at each other before quickly walking to class in the opposite directions.

"...love-struck teenagers" Helen mumbled to herself as she left the area.

~Let me know what you guys think :)

xxxxx


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you LamarLaver, your support is greatly appreciated. You'll find out soon enough._ :)

 **Chapter 2**

The first day of school went fairly well for the gang.

"Any minute now Tori, it's 4 o'clock. If you haven't had enough time talking to Cat and Robbie then that's too bad" an agitated Jade said standing outside of Tori's car.

After failing the test two times, Tori finally got her driver's license in July some time. With everyone being surprised that she actually passed, her parents decided to surprise her with a white 2012 Audi A4. Now that Jade was back, Tori wanted her to experience her new car and "driving skills" for the first time.

"Okay okayy" whined Tori, "I'll talk to you guys later" she concluded as she began to make her way to the car.

The ride wasn't as long as one would imagine it being. "Remind me how you got your license again?" questioned a baffled Jade as they pulled into the Vegas' driveway. "What are you talking about, I drive sensibly" defended Tori. "Sure you do. I'm sure that the squirrel you nearly hit feels the same way...and the dog...and the...", "Ok! I get it..." interrupted the brunette.

Jade responded with a satisfied smirk as they walked inside.

"Strawberry, Cherry or Banana?" Offered Tori of her favourite homemade smoothies. " I recommend cherry but it's on you " she continued, preparing the blender and the cups.

"Cherry me" she said while flipping through the channels for something to watch while waiting for the boys to come. "Speaking of cherries, has Andre managed to pop yours yet" smirked Jade deviously. "Oh my gosh...Whyyyy would you ask that?" asked a perplexed and disturbed Tori. Laughing at how flushed her friend got, the blue-eyed girl responded "You're the one who brought up the subject". "Hahaha very funny" mocked Tori, " And no he hasn't..we're not interested in that right now, let alone ready for it...not yet"

"Ohh, still some tension going on after the whole awkward break up incident?" questioned a serious Jade. "It's not really tension, it's just trust issues I guess. Like we can totally hang out and enjoy each other's company alone, but sometimes when certain situations present themselves either he gets defensive or I do."

"What's a good romance without the hiccups...I guess you're both still trying to get over what happened, it's normal..just give it time." Jade advised. "Even with Beck and I, we still get defensive and offensive about things of the past but we work on it and get through it because we believe that what we have is worth it." she concluded.

"Awwwww" sings Tori. "Alright alright cut the theatrics" interrupted a playfully annoyed Jade as she got up to open the door for Beck and Andre who have been knocking impatiently for about 30 seconds. "Hold your horses!" She yelled unlocking the door.

"We shouldn't have to" said Beck to Jade before giving her a kiss on her cheek, to which she replies "Whatever".

"The line at Panda Express was sooo long...I was so ready to order pizza or something and cancel our order." voiced Andre as he and Beck placed the bags of chinese food on the living room table. "So true" added Beck.

"If you guys came here with pizza you would've ate it by yourselves outside" said Tori chuckling. "You wouldn't have let us inside?" an amused Andre asks the brunette as he approached her in the kitchen.

"Of course not." she said while trying to pick up the four glasses of smoothies yet failing at it. "Well I guess you don't need help with that" he teased her walking away. "Dre" she said flatly. He laughed and turned around to help her yet bumped into her while doing so, not knowing that she made it that far carrying the four glasses.

"Good job" she said entertained by her boyfriend covered in cherry smoothie from the waist up. He somehow got more of the fruit blast than she did, and two of the smoothies survived.

He looked at her with a sarcastic glare and said "thanks". She smiled at his karma telling him " you probably should get cleaned up" pointing at his grey shirt, "and let's just say that the good tasting red stuff on you was you and Beck's." she concluded by kissing him on the cheek and walking to the couch triumphantly to a cuddled up Beck and Jade.

After about 15 minutes of eating chinese food and watching Girly Cow, Andre wasn't back from the bathroom yet so Tori decided to check on him.

"What's taking you so long? We want to start the movie" she said looking at her shirtless boyfriend from the door of the upstairs bathroom. He was hand washing his tee feverishly and said "this is one of my favorite shirts, I gotta get this out."

He turned around to look at her, and their eyes locked. Her eyes burned right through him, speaking of her adoration as she was attracted to the seriousness of his voice and his well built body. Unable to resist temptation, she took 3 steps towards him and said "let me help you" then gently pressed her lips against his.

The kiss was slow and passionate lasting for about a minute. When their lips separated, their foreheads touched and Tori's hand fell to his chest. They stood in silence allowing the silence to speak of the things that they were afraid to speak of. After about 15 seconds in that position, she turned to walk away from him saying "we're starting the movie". He grabbed her wrist to stop her in her tracks and when she turned to look at him he said "umm...a spare shirt is in my car, can u tell Beck to bring it up for me please? ". She could tell that that wasn't what he wanted to say, but she responded "kay, hurry up".

The night proceeded as planned, they watched a few movies including Mockingjay Part 2, snuggled up as pairs. The time passed with laughter, food, and love at the center of it all. It felt good to make up for the lost time for when Beck and Jade were in England. It was like a miniature reunion. Only Cat and Robbie were missing because they had to spend the evening taking care of Robbie's mama who was sick.

Beck couldn't help but to notice that Andre was barely watching the movie. The musician's eyes were fixed on the brunette settled between his legs laying on his chest. Every time Tori said something about the movie to him he just played along as if he was watching and said "Yeah" with a light smile. Beck knew that Andre was either hoplessly in love with the girl on him or he wanted to say something to her that he couldn't muster up the courage to say. Yet, it was both.

Hours passed, and after the third movie ended they called it a night.

"Night guys" said Beck as he and Jade made their departure out of the Vega household.

"Night" Tori and Andre responded. "I should get going too it's after 12 already" Andre said to Tori placing a kiss on her forehead, following which they embraced each other. "I love you" Andre said, which she responded to by asking "Real or not real?"

He chuckled and gave her a peck on her smiling lips saying "Realer than real". Smiling faintly she says "I love you too."

"I'll walk away while you're still smiling...night baby " he says walking out the door. "Night" she concluded.

She couldn't shake the feeling that there was something he wasn't saying to her, and that made her mind race. The thoughts reminded her of the events surrounding their break up. Although she was slowly getting over it all, whatever Andre was hiding made her scared of having a repeat of the past.

-/

What is Andre hiding? Will he tell Tori before things blow out of proportion? We'll have to see.

~Let me know what you guys think. :)

XxXx


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 _-6 months ago- March 24 2015_

"Hey babe, is Tori out of our way yet? My parents aren't here ~Selena" read Tori. The notification popped up on Andre's phone while he was in the gas station. Sitting in the car with the message now playing with her mind, curious and irritated, Tori battled with the thought of going through his phone to read through their conversation or waiting until he came back to ask him about it.

The thought of what happened when Trina talked her into rummaging through Ryder's phone cautioned her not to do it. "Pong!" the second notification sounded. "What's taking u so long to answer, you know I don't like waiting" the message from Selena read. Now angry, Tori tossed his phone back in the driver's seat, impatiently waiting for Andre. She couldn't resist the temptation, after 30 seconds of contemplating she picked up the phone eagerly, typed in his password, and searched for the conversation. The chat was fairly barren.

Selena: don't forget what you told me yesterday, anything's possible ?

2:00pm~today

Selena: Hey babe, is Tori out of our way yet?

7:32pm~today

Selena: What's taking you so long to answer, you know I don't like waiting

7:35pm~today

Tori read. Those were the only messages in the chat as if Andre had deleted the conversation prior. Tori was getting more and more frustrated as she thought about it all. Memories of Andre's past resurfaced and she began to think that maybe the thought of him cheating on her wouldn't be so farfetched. "He's played games with North Ridge girls before" she thought to herself. Yet his footsteps approaching the car snapped her out of thought as she tossed the phone back in his seat.

"How hard is it for a guy to get a pack of purple skittles around here" says Andre as he opens the car door to go inside. Tori didn't answer, as she blankly looked at him and redirected her attention forward. Andre didn't notice and continued, "like seriously there's always the red and blue kind, where's the love?"

Tori chuckled and muttered "I'm sure u have more than enough of that". He questioned obliviously "what was that Tor?". After remaining silent for a while she softly responded "nothing."

Taking the radio's music into consideration, the car ride to school was fairly silent. The full moon jam was tonight, and they had to perform a song together upon Lane's request. When they arrived Andre said " I'm sooo ready for this, the new guitar I got ..". " Who is Selena?"

Tori cut him off. A bit shocked and confused he asked "what? What do mean?".

"Who ..is...Selena ?" Tori said expressing her irritation. He sighed, faced forward with his eyes closed and asked "You went through my phone didn't you?"

"Can you just answer the question!" A frustrated Tori responded. Sighing again he continued "look, its not what you think it is..she's just a girl that likes me and won't leave me alone." Tori rolled her eyes as she heard his reasoning and said " and you like her don't you? Because that is the only logical reason as to why you didn't say anything about her, or why you've deleted the conversations you had with her, or why she's blowing your phone up with messages, or why she even knows my name, like what the hell Andre?!"

Andre ran his hand through his locks overwhelmed. "Tori.." he started. Fed up she opened the car door and said "forget it... I don't even wanna know" while walking out.

Andre angrily punched the car wheel, giving in to his temper, knowing that if he went after her it would've only made things worse.

On his way to the mingle area, Sinjin came to him asking about the set up for their performance. "Do you and Tori want the green or purple gobos" he questioned. Andre was so out of it as he saw Tori in the distance talking to Jade. He was always mesmerized by her. "Andre!" Sinjin snapped him out of his trans. "Both, just give us both". he answered still staring. Neither of them would back out of a performance because of personal issues. If anything they always saw singing as a release for them.

"Sorry to interrupt this hollow conversation y'all are having but, what did you do Andre? " inserts Robbie. "Oooo, dramaa" sings Sinjin. "Go away Sinjin, and I didn't do anything...it's just a misunderstanding." Andre responded.

"You're on in 10" say Sinjin as he leaves the boys. "Well clearly a serious one if Tori had the power to pull Cat away from a very steamy conversation we were having, if I do say so myself of course." Robbie explained.

"She thinks that I'm cheating on her" Andre confessed. "What!? Are you ? I mean were you? With who ?" Robbie questioned frantically. "Noo, I'm not...at least I don't think so. I don't know Rob...Selena.." he answered. "Selena!? Oh wow, you're officially crazy." Robbie stopped him. "It's not like that ...if anything it's her." said the musician. "You know Selena. She doesn't give up..you knew this Andre. How'd you get caught up with her?" Shapiro continued.

"I don't know...when I was at the team's pre-season party she was there, and I guess it kicked off from there. She made it seemed like she just wanted to be friends though." Andre explained. "The player being played, how cliche" Robbie said as he shook his head at his friend. "I'm not a player." he responded. "Orr, did the skilled player like the thought of being played and allowed it to happen but wasn't expecting it to go this far?" Robbie continued to ponder and imply. "I'm not a player!" Andre said getting angry "and you know how I feel about Tori, I'd never want to hurt her like that". Sighing Robbie responded "yeah, I get it...but Andre you've got to admit that u messed with girls before so there is a possibility that u subconsciously relapsed. You're right, I know you'd never hurt Tori intentionally but even if we blame it on karma, clearly this time you messed up."

"What part of 10 minutes don't you get Andre, we've gotta get u hooked up" said Sinjin in a hurry. "We'll finish this later" said Andre as he handed Robbie the cup he was drinking out of and went with Sinjin.

Robbie shrugged his shoulders after looking at it, took a sip and walked in the opposite direction.

"Ladies and gentlemen give it up for Tori and Andre. They'll be performing a cover of "You and I" by One Direction." announced Lane.

The performance was a bit more emotional than intended. Mainly comprising of Tori and Andre standing on the opposite sides of the stage, singing about each other but never making intentional eye contact. Although Andre did try to look at her directly several times, but Tori was still frustrated and hurt as expected. She expressed this through the performance.

When they were done with the performance, Tori walked pass Andre without saying a word. Though Jade, offered to give her a ride home, Tori refused and insisted that she left with Andre.

"That makes no sense" the blue eyed girl blatantly said to her friend. "Jade's right Tori" agreed Cat. Tori responded dryly " I came with him after all, and it's not like I can't stand to be around him."

"Well, if you say so...I guess I'll message you when you get home" concluded Jade

When Tori went to the car Andre was already there waiting, leaning on the hood while on his phone. She walked straight pass him and went inside. He sighed and followed suit. The first half of the ride was silent. Extremely silent. Andre was battling with himself questioning if he should say something first as they sat at the red light.

" I don't like her." he said, and waited on a response from her. Yet she didn't budge, she continued to look out her window silently. " I never told her i did." he continued trying to get some sort of response from her. Yet she gave off nothing. He continued "She's just extremely possessive and really wants me for some reason. I know I should've said something to you, but I thought I could handle it on my own, and I deleted the conversations because she kept sending me nude photos of herself and I didn't want them sitting there so openly. I know how it looks, but seriously Tori its just .."

"It's over Andre." Tori said solemnly interrupting his rant, still looking through the window. "What?..what's over?" He questioned. "All of this, the situation and everything that comes with it..I'm over it, all of it." she expressed monotonously. He didn't say anything. She then continued " I'll never really know what happened between you and her, the only thing that I have to base my response off of is what you're saying and what I saw, and to be honest that's not even enough. As much as I'd love to believe you completely, a part of me just can't. The truth is, if you told me about whatever was going on between the two of you before any of this happened, all of this could've been avoided. The fact that you kept this hidden is a problem within itself for me. A problem of trust. And honestly, I can't be with someone I can't trust completely. So when I say its over, I mean all of it, today, the problem...and us."

Andre sat there quietly, his grip clenched the wheel even tighter as she said the last two words. He finally said " ok. I get it. I guess we should've never messed with this relationship thing. As much as we promised each other that it wouldn't affect the friendship, I think it's pretty clear that it will...and I don't want that. I never wanted that." Tori's eyes started to get full, yet he couldn't see it because she returned her gaze to the window. He did feel the change in atmosphere though, the change between them, the change in her.

"I don't regret it...being with you. And I don't want you to regret it either, because it meant something to me. It still does. But, even the things we love come to an end for one reason or the other. We just have to be mature enough to accept it."

Those were the last words she spoke to him until about a week later.

-/

A taste of what happened before. There's more to come. Thanks for the positive reviews.

~Hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you think. XxXx :)


	4. Chapter 4

_/One week later/ - flashback cont_.

Tori's POV

"Are we seriously going to do this?" I posed the question to the amused Cat and Jade.

We've been having lunch as a trio ever since what happened between Andre and I, and with the boys its the same. It's like an invisible barrier forces us to avoid each other when possible. As much as I'd like to say that running from confrontation is a bit soothing, I really can admit that I do miss him. I know, it's only been a week right?

But to me, a week without someone u spend most of your time with is a lot. A lot.

And now, here I am being an accomplice in a plan designed for me.

"Yes, we are. Let Andre see what it's like to be put on the back burner for once. He's used to girls wanting his attention, but not having yours? ...that's an extreme." Jade concludes with a knowing smirk.

"I don't really want to make him feel jealous, I'm not the biggest fan of revenge. I'm actually quite fine with the avoiding thing we've got going on." I try to explain attempting to sound believable.

"Well think of it as doing us a favor, personally I'd love to see his reaction." says Jade without remorse. "You really have nothing to lose here, and it's not that serious." she continued.

"Fine, fine. Let's do it." I agree, knowing Jade wouldn't let it down.

"I'll call Tony!" Cat excitedly interrupts.

Tony was a guy that Jade and Cat met at Nozu a few weeks back. He was interested in Jade, but after finding out about Beck he settled for being friends with them. Yes, just friends.

"Heyyy Tony the liger" said Cat into the phone.

Both Tori and Jade rolled their eyes and corrected her saying " Its tiger. "

About 15 minutes later, a sky blue convertible pulled into the Asphalt Cafe area.

It was almost cinematic how Tony came out of the car with shades on. Dressed in a blue collared polo shirt, and long khaki pants, he came out of the car and headed to the table where the girls were sitting.

"Hey hey hey" he said with a smile. He had brunette hair with a faded cut .

"Heyy Tony" the girls greeted him with a hug. "This is our friend Tori. Tori, Tony...Tony, Tori" said Cat with a grin.

"Hola" he said to Tori, giving her a hug also.

"Hi" she responded with a smile returning the hug.

"I'm assuming that you have a boyfriend too right ? You're too beautiful not to." Tony said to Tori with a grin.

She blushed and said "thanks, and it's complicated."

"I get it , don't even worry about it I totally understand" he expressed."So I have 40 minutes to spare until I gotta get back to work, wanna go for a ride? Frozen yogurt on me" he offered the girls.

Over at the boys' table, their eyes were locked on the girls.

"Why is it that when one of us mess up, all of us suffer? It's so unfair. I don't have a problem with separate punishment you know." Robbie complained. "I hardly ever do anything out of the way. Cat and I were doing great before a certain somebody chose not to keep jimmy in his pants."

Beck responded chuckling "Firstly, we're not being punished Rob. We're simply supporting Andre while they support Tori, and that...feels like punishment, but.."

"And secondly, I told u I didn't cheat on her so the next time u even imply that I did i will bring your insides outside. Cherish that spaghetti while you're eating it." Andre interrupted.

"Ok ok, graphic much?" Robbie whined. " I know you didn't, but why are we sitting at separate tables as if you did."

"Because she thinks that I did, and I can't blame her for it." Andre admits.

"Who is that?" Beck questioned, while beckoning to the direction Tony was in.

" He's pretty much a hot guy with a nice car." said Robbie. Beck and Andre looked at him incredulously. "What? He is." he said shamefully.

"No Robbie, he's pretty much a golf boy who's talking to the girls." Beck concluded while sipping on his iced tea.

"Act normal, act normal ...Jade's coming" Robbie alerted the boys.

"Umm Cat and I are going for frozen yogurt with Tori and her friend Tony. Save our seats in Theatre class." Jade said to Beck before giving him a peck. She left right after, but caught a satisfactory glance at Andre.

Though Andre heard everything Jade said, his eyes were glued to the vehicle that had Tori in it. He was staring, trying to understand the severity of what happened between them. They were best friends before right? Why is it so hard for her to trust him, and now ...why is he finding it so hard to trust her?

"Dré!" Beck called for the sixth time.

"Yeah, yeah...what's up?" Andre snapped out of his daze.

"Do you think Tori's trying to make you jealous?" He asked.

"Of course she is, do you see that guy?" Robbie intervened.

The boys looked at Robbie with a glare.

"You do understand that Cat's in that car too right?" asks Beck.

"I mean...well...yeah, sorta. Pfft...Andre has nothing to worry about, and neither do we..right?" Robbie questions a bit flustered.

"Right. But is the jealousy plot working? Are you even just a tad bit envious Andre?"

Beck probed his friend.

After watching the car speed out of the gate Andre responded "Nope, she can do whatever she wants." Following which he downed his drink, tossed it in the bin and walked off from the table.

"He's jealous." Beck tells Robbie, who nods his head in agreement. "Of course he is." he concludes.

About an hour later, The boys are in class.

It was about 20 minutes after 1 o'clock, which was the time the class started.

One by one Jade, Cat and then Tori trickled into the theatre, apologizing for their lateness. The class had an aisle between its two halves of seating arrangements.

Beck and Robbie were in the second to last row on the right half, later to be joined by Cat and Jade.

After they took their seats, Tori quickly realized that she was left with the option of taking the last available seat in the very front of the class, or the seat beside Andre in the middle row on the left half of the class.

Not wanting to make a bigger disruption, she took a deep breath in and plopped down beside him.

Andre looked at her once and then resumed looking at the teacher.

About 20 minutes later, still with his eyes locked on the teacher he said to her "hope you had fun."

Tori, noting his sarcasm, took a deep breath in and out before responding, " I did actually."

"You did? You seem to do a lot of things, like if I recall correctly, you DID say that everything that happened between us is behind us, yet you've been avoiding me" he said in hushed tones still not making eye contact with her.

"I don't exactly recall you ever coming to me either, so your point holds no weight." she answered pretending to pay attention to the lecture, yet still she was getting irritated.

"Oh, my bad for not approaching the girl that ended things between us" he sarcastically said.

"You should really hear yourself right now. Yes Andre, it is your bad. You're the one that hurt me, therefore if you cared as much as you're proving you do then you should've came to me. This is childish." She rolled her eyes before getting up and walking out of the class.

With everyone now staring at him, he hopped up and went after her.

"What's more childish than trying to make me jealous?" He said across the hallway. His words stopped her in her tracks.

"Clearly we have different ways of showing that we care. What do you want from me Andre? Seriously, what do you want !? You wanted a friend, I gave that to you. You wanted a best friend, I gave that to you. You wanted a girlfriend, I gave that to you...and you broke it. What do you want from me now? she said, her voice was shaking.

He slowly walked towards her in hopes of meeting her gaze. His heart felt heavy listening to her. Neither of them ever liked arguing with the other. They couldn't handle it.

When about 6 inches away from her he found the courage to answer.

"I want you to understand what happened. I want my eyes to stay meeting your gaze like it is right now. I want your voice to sing to me and about me whenever I make you happy. I want to see your smile everyday for as many times as I can. I want to give you a hug right now because I know you're hurting. I want oh so badly for my lips to be yours, and yours mine. I want you Tori. If I have to prove it to you I will, but before I can do that...you have to hear my side of what happened. The entire story. The truth."

Tori remained silent, her eyes were filled with tears. But she refused to let them fall.

Seconds later, she felt warmth and comfort within herself. Yet the warmth and comfort was from his embrace.

" I don't need permission to love you " he said to her, his arms now strapped around her.

She laughed at his words, still resting in his embrace. The tears fell with her laughter. Those are the same words he used to say to her when they were best friends. Whenever she teased him saying that when she finds a boyfriend she'll have to kick him to the curve to avoid jealousy, that was his response. He'd always tell her that he doesn't need anyone's permission to love her, because he always will.

It always made her smile.

And now this time, it made her laugh.

"I know you don't. If you want me to listen to you... I will." she said to him, after which he released her from the hug.

"That's all I need." He responded to her with a light smile.

They eventually went back to being best friends, and months later, they went back to being each other's everything

...though they never stopped.

-/

That's how it happened before. :). Sorry for having you guys wait so long for the update. Hope you enjoyed the read.

Let me know what you think. Xx

Next chapter, we're back to the present.


	5. Chapter 5

"Wheeeww!" Sounded the whistle resting in Andre's lips. Signaling the start of another round of jogging for him and Tori, the pair began to sprint alongside the shoreline of Venice Beach for about 10 minutes.

It was about 7am on a Saturday in late September. Seeing that Andre's determination as a member of Hollywood Arts' soccer team led him to train every Saturday morning, Tori decided to tag along to keep his company.

Of course he was faster than she was, but he held back a little so she could at least try to keep up. His dreads flew back in response to the speed. The red shorts whipped the black tights beneath it as his legs moved with a feverish rhythm, similar to that of a drumroll. Yet, through training with such intent, little did Andre know that Tori actually went with him only to get answers from his behavioral pattern.

He was still fighting telling her something and she was dying to know what it was.

Eventually, she took a seat and enjoyed the show that was her boyfriend training, while sipping on a cold Gatorade. It went on for hours. Or at least that's what it felt like. From him doing push-ups, sprinting, water exercises and of course kicking around his red and white soccer ball, the time went by with all of it.

"Aaaand time!" She yelled at him as he wrapped up his final sequence of training at about 8:42am. Her toes clutched the sand in joy, knowing that the rough start to her morning was finally going to ease up.

Panting as he bent forward holding onto his knees, Andre responded "wh-why do you seem so happy over there twinkle toes?" chuckling at the girl sitting in the sand.

"Because I am, I can finally go home. I'm exhausted" Tori retorted while getting up and dusting off her legs.

"You barely did anything but jogged for like 5 minutes at the beginning. Well, and kicked the ball in the water, which I had to swim for...all 4 times." he pointed out amused while throwing his white tee over his shoulder while beginning to pack.

"Sounds like a lot of burnt energy to me." she responded wittily. "Maybe I just like to make you work" the brunette teased walking towards him.

"Or maybe, you'd just like to go for a swim." he threatened her with a playful glare in his eyes. Before she could even think to run, he picked her up and held her over his shoulder.

She laughed and squealed, trying to wiggle her way out of his arms. "You're only making it worse for yourself" Andre said laughing, still approaching the water.

Finally Tori was able to twist and grip on his waist with her right leg, forcing him to let her win. Finally relaxed, with both legs wrapped around his waist and her arms clasped around his neck, they both laughed at each other.

"You thought you had me didn't you?" she laughed.

"I do, you're mine." he responded with a light smile. This made her blush.

As the laughter died down, they both began to gaze into each other's eyes, more and more serious as the time elapsed. And finally, Tori leaned in to kiss him. Their lips locked and danced with each other to the rhythm of the ocean tide.

Almost a minute into it, Andre broke the kiss and looked away from her.

The beautiful brunette looked up at the sky while sighing before asking him "What is it Andre? What is it that's bothering you?" Silence fell until she forced his eyes to meet hers.

"Nothing, I'm good...lets go." He said brushing off the obvious emotional gap. He clenched his jaw when he realized Tori wasn't buying it. She realized this, and she of all people knew that when he clenched his jaw he either felt guilty or offended. In this case being the first. And he noticed something about her, only thing is that it was pretty obvious, she was getting irritated.

Andre then tried to brush it off once again with a smile and a peck on the lips before saying "Don't look at me like that, I'm good."

~The following Monday~

"Beck!" Jade yelled across the hallway approaching her boyfriend .

"Oh hey babe I was just looking fo-" he began before she intervened "Why am I hearing that you're going away from everyone else but you?"

" I mean it wasn't a secret, aren't you going too?" He defended.

"What do you mean it wasn't a-... I am?" She responded becoming less offensive and more confused.

"Yes yes yes, Jade of the West...it is yet another one of Sikowitz's mandatory trips. Our last one I might add." Robbie said, dancing his way into the conversation.

"Well.." she started "I don't remember him saying this, when did he say this?" she continued still trying to stand by her claims.

"Umm I don't know, maybe when you were sleeping last class ? Just a guess." Beck said pointedly with a disclaiming smile and shrug.

"Ha ha very funny. You know why I slept last class, Dylan and his stupid dog." The blue eyed girl remembered and scorned.

"It's your dog too!" corrected Robbie, which was followed by a quick glance and her saying "only sometimes".

"Hey guys" approached Andre "umm Beck, you free tonight ?" he wasted no time on asking.

"Yeah dude, why?" he questioned.

Andre seemed out of sorts to him. Though he looked dapper with a purple printed button down shirt loosely hugging his body, with black denims, he also had bags under his eyes.

" Just wanna come over, hang or whatever" he said nonchalantly.

"Alright...my house after school" Beck said suspiciously eyeing the musician.

"Cool" Andre said while walking in the direction of class, although they all had the same class to go to.

A few minutes after Tori strolled in.

"Hey Jade, are you free tonight?" she approached the group.

"Good morning to you too Tori, Beck and I are great thanks for asking" Robbie said sarcastically.

Tori sighed at Robbie taking offense, "I'm sorry guys, my head isn't here right now. Jade?"

"Yeah I am, what's up? she responded growing concerned for her friend.

"Just need to talk, you know, hang out or whatever" Tori responded similar to Andre.

"Umm, ok I guess...my place at 6." Jade said while still trying to process what was going on. She wasn't the only one. As Tori agreed and walked off, the three of them shared a knowing look.

"Who smells relationship drama?" Jade asked. Both boys raised their hands.

"Cat!" Sikowitz's shouted. She pitched in her seat with a squeal. "What?!" she asked frantically.

"Nothing, I was just making sure I had your attention" he said with a smile of satisfaction. "So I'm sure that I made you all aware of the trip to New York in January. Once again, it IS mandatory, and the school is paying for your room and board so there are no excuses." as he turned around to proceed with the lesson Jade raised her hand asking " Why are you making us go to New York, and what happens if we decide not to go?".

"Oh Jade, you with the passive aggressive rebellious questions. I'm not making you guys go anywhere, it's solely up to you, either you come or you fail" he explained with a carefree smile.

"But why?" Tori asked, seated in the front row beside Cat.

Groaning in frustration Sikowitz went on to respond "Becaauuse...ok fine, I can't say yet. Just know that you ought to be there."

"Before I continue with the lesson that you noodles keep interrupti-" he began before a student barged in.

"Uhh Mr. Sikowitz, Lane wants to see Andre." the messenger relayed.

Everyone's focus switched on Andre who was sitting at the back of the class slightly slouched in his chair. He locked eyes with Beck who looked at him with a concerned questioning look. Following which, his eyes naturally found Tori's who looked into his dark globes for an answer. His blank stare shared nothing with her, she shook her head and faced forward. He was obviously still playing hide and seek with her.

Andre got up with a sigh, and walked out of the class.

/Later that day/

" Yo Rob, don't you think you're scaring him." A calm and collected Beck said to his friend who was staring intently at his pet goldfish.

"If anything he's trying to scare me; he isn't backing down. What kind of creepy goldfish is this?" The curly headed guy responded still not breaking his stare.

Beck chuckled at him saying "The super creepy kind." They've both been in his RV for about half an hour waiting on Andre. Beck took off his yellow and black flannel and tossed it on his bed before laying down in the couch. With a tennis ball in his left hand and cell phone in his right, he began a texting conversation with Jade.

"Hey Beck.." Robbie asked for his attention while going through the mini fridge for a drink.

"What's up?" he responded, eyes still glued to his phone.

"What do you think is up with Andre and Tori?" Robbie questioned.

"Man I don't even know, I guess we'll find out when he gets here. It's pretty weird though." he responded before peeping out the window to ensure that it was Andre's engine he heard pulling up outside. "And he's here."

Opening the door, Beck greeted his friend saying "Hey man, what took u so long? We left school the same time."

"Had to stop home for a minute." Andre said, obviously in a different and more chill attire. "What's the matter, did baby Beck miss daddy Andre?" he joked.

"You're hilarious aren't you, freaking hilarious" Beck responded putting Andre in a playful headlock.

They both laughed as Andre pried Beck's right arm from around his neck and lightly shoved him.

"This is the first time I've seen you smile all day Andre" Robbie inserted with a smile of his own while tossing his friend a soda.

"So true Rob, what's the bad boy mug been about lately?" Beck asked Andre, who when reminded of his reality looked a bit deflated while opening the can.

"Yeah, and why did Lane need to see you" Robbie interjected.

"Well, they both kinda have to do with the same thing" Andre said while taking a seat.

Highly curious Beck questioned, "And is this 'same thing' the **same** thing that's giving you problems with Tori?"

"Unfortunately." he said before taking a swig from the can.

Andre was obviously trying to prolong telling them. "Well spill it already!" an eager Robbie demands.

"Alright, alright..." he began.

Back at Jade's house, Tori was having a venting session of her own.

"It's like we could be having the best time together, but then somewhere down the line he would respond strange to certain things." she explained.

She, along with Cat and Jade was sitting in a circle with blankets beneath them and snacks at the center.

"Well do you know why Lane called him to his office today? Maybe it has something to do with that." Jade asked draped in a black kimono, while dipping a tortilla chip in the salsa bowl.

"No I don't! What part of 'he isn't telling me anything' don't you understand?" The bright-eyed Latina responded irritated and wearily.

Both Cat and Jade had "shocked" painted on their faces.

In true Jade fashion she snapped back "Watch it Vega, I'm the wrong one. You know that."

Tori sighed and felt guilty immediately after. "I know, I knowww. I'm sorry. I'm just really irritated by it. It's driving me insane." she expressed.

"Clearly." Jade snapped back once more, which made both Cat and Tori laugh just a little.

Cat pouted at her friend's frustration. "What if the reason he isn't telling you is because he's trying to protect you?" she thought out loud. "Or maybe he's scared of how you'll take it?"

"Well if that's the case he has to decide which is more important, keeping his precious secret, or keeping me." Tori concluded.

"What!?" Beck and Robbie responded simultaneously.

"Dude you have to tell Tori." Beck encouraged.

"I know that, you don't think I know that !?" Andre responded obviously paranoid. "It's a matter of how and when."

"Think of it this way, either u tell her first, or she finds out from someone else and it turns out a lot worse than it should." Beck counseled.

Robbie added " Seriously, we both remember what happened the last time Tori found out something before you told her"

"Ok, you're right. You're both right. I'll figure it out." he said picking up his keys. "Thanks for this."

"Yeah no problem man." Beck responded. " It's 9:54pm already? Wow." he continued as he sieved through his messages "Jade even said she's going to bed soon, it's not even that late."

"Well that's officially my cue" Andre said with a light smile. "I'm going home, adios" he said heading for the door.

"Yeah dude, drive safe" Beck responded.

The car ride home was lonely, and although Andre told Beck and Robbie what was going on, it still burdened him that he didn't tell Tori. He began to think on how being in a relationship with your best friend changes the playing field. This is supposed to be the person you tell almost every to, and now she is the one person he's afraid of telling certain things to.

As he thought, the rain began to fall. At a red light, he looked at his phone and went into Tori's chat. The last time they talked to each other was when they sent each other good morning messages. Andre threw his phone in the passenger seat and hit the wheel in frustration.

Still consumed by thoughts of how and when he'd tell her, he began to drive aimlessly. That was until he ended up at her house.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he ran his hands through his hair before making his way to the door.

 ***knock knock***

Tori had a bad habit of opening the door before the person on the other end responded to the "who's it?". So as she said it, she swung the door open, only to see Andre standing there slightly damp from the rain. "Hey" she said softly, still keeping her distance from the guy that seemed to have been begging for it lately.

His face was sullen, dressed in his white T and grey sweats he looked at her allowing his eyes to swallow her up. Before she could even ask what he was doing at her house, he said with a dire tone "We need to talk."

-/

Next chapter, we finally find out what it is Andre is holding back. How will Tori handle it? Is it even that bad at all?

Thanks for the reviews, they inspire me to keep going. So of course, let me know what u guys think. :)

XxXx


	6. Chapter 6

"Come in" Tori said faintly.

The secret that she was so eager to find out for weeks was now the one thing she feared the most. Closing the door, she turned around to see her boyfriend running his right hand through his hair, probably contemplating on how he was going to best reveal things to her.

His thoughts ravaged his stability, he didn't even think to take a seat until he saw Tori sit in the couch with both feet crossed in her lap. She reached for and clutched a pillow, patiently yet impatiently waiting for Andre to say something.

"Look, Tori, I don't even know how to put this to you." He started.

"You didn't know how to put it to me for the past 3 weeks either" she said pointedly.

He sighed, " Well I'll just come out and say it, but before I do, its important that you know that I would never do anything to hurt you purposefully."

She remained silent. It was the same silence she held in the car ride from the full moon jam the night they broke up. However, this time her eyes held onto his.

If he could read her eyes as much as she could read his, he could tell that she was prepared to get hurt but was hoping that it wasn't the case.

"I just may have gotten a girl pregnant" he forced out. "It's not Selena, I mean I doubt that even matters but yeah."

Tori's head dipped downward for about 2 seconds, but when she lifted it back up, a soft smile was painted on her lips. It definitely wasn't a smile of satisfaction. The smile eventually turned into a light chuckle, and in that brief moment before she spoke, Andre caught a glimpse of the hurt in her eyes before she masked it with a bitter attitude.

"Wooww, you just may have gotten a girl pregnant." she repeated with a sense of pretentious surprise. "Translation: 'I just MAY HAVE actually cheated on you this time, and there's proof to go with it'. Great Andre, just great." she stood up.

" I don't even know how or why this is happening but ever since we got back together I haven't been with anyone else, I promise you that." He confessed to Tori, his hand reaching for hers in a pleading fashion.

" Do not touch me, Andre." she flinched and stepped away from him. In that moment he saw her eyes beginning to shimmer. He clenched his jaw before becoming angry with himself.

"Tori, please don't shut me out. I'm being honest with you!" He said passionately.

"Honest with me?" She laughed as her eyes continued to rise in water content.

" You're being honest alright. You're **honestly** telling me that there's some girl out there that you've been having sex with and that you just MAY BE the father of her child. And I don't know, you're telling me maybe 3 weeks after you found out? Am I supposed happy about this? Elated? If so we can run through this entire moment again and I'll try to accommodate your expectations!"

"Tori, I don't expect you to be happy about this, if anything I can understand if u want to hate me because of it. Really, I just want you to understand that this happened before you and me, and it's not certain yet." he explained easing his way closer to her without her noticing.

"What do you mean it isn't certain yet?" she questioned, already exhausted by the topic.

"I _mean_ that she nor do I know if I'm the father. When we...did it together, it was in May, we were both drunk. So, she isn't exactly sure who the father is, she just making guesses and assumes that it's me." his eyes held onto hers, and he watched them soften. That was until she broke the gaze and looked away. The beautiful thing about them was that they were each other's weakness. However, Tori being aware of this, wasn't about to let the same eyes that told her they loved her many times, to sway her from the feeling of hurt and regret.

"And what do you assume?" She asked blankly, remaining loyal to her mask of bitterness and anger.

"I assume..." he began. "Well, honestly, I don't know what to assume. I think I was protected, but I can't remember a thing. It's really only an accusation. I'm getting the test results on Wednesday, so we'll see then."

"How could you be so stupid" she said with a shaky voice, lightly punching his chest, finally letting her walls down. The tears fell, and he gripped her into a tight hug. This was not only motivated by his instinct to comfort her, but also because he couldn't bare to look at her in the face knowing he was the cause of her hurt...again.

In his head, he had become the same guys that he hated. Steven, Ryder, the list goes on. Although, he knew he could be better for her or at least thought he could, he felt as if he wasn't. They made her cry, and he was standing there doing the same thing.

She deserved better than him, he thought to himself as he held her in his arms.

"Tori.." He began before she cut him off.

"No, don't say anything" she said, settled in his arms regaining her composure.

/The following day/ at lunch/

"So, let's see. Lane calling him to his office yesterday, that was because of the girl he got pregnant? Cat asked, still trying to understand what was going on.

"Yeah, basically." Tori sighed

"What a dick." Jade bluntly stated. "No pun intended."

Cat then commented "Well I mean, he said it was before you guys got back together..so that has to count for something." trying to be optimistic.

"How far is she?" Jade asked.

"What? I don't know where she lives. You can't be plotting to attack a pregnant girl. Thats just wrong" an appalled Tori expressed.

"I don't mean her location, Tori." She rolled her eyes at the brunette, "I mean how far in the pregnancy is she?"

"Oh." she chuckled lightly " I don't know ." she said nervously.

"Wow, I think that's sort of a need to know basis." The blue eyed girl said, stressing the obvious.

"Ok ok, yes it is. So much was going on that night, I didn't even think to ask." Tori said, starting to play with her salad.

" We eat our food, not play with it." Beck said to Tori with a smile, before kissing Jade on the cheek from behind.

This made Tori smile faintly.

"Hey babe, we were just talking about you" Jade sparked his interest.

Slightly confused he answered " Oh really? What for?"

" Oh I don't know" she lead on " I mean every guy has a saga of being a total douche, so it's fair enough for me to say all of you are the same...even when we talk about Robbie, Sinjin, Andreee" she stressed his name.

Beck immediately picked up what Jade was hinting at. He smiled nervously and began to pick up his food in attempt to leave, but Jade held down his food tray forcing him to sit.

"Umm, hi" he said awkwardly.

"It's fine Beck, he already told me" Tori said trying to ease the tension.

"Oh, he did? I'm sorry Tori" he said relieved and genuine.

"It's fine, I get it." she said playing victim "If Jade was cheating you I wouldn't have told you either" a teasing smile played on her lips as she sipped her smoothie.

"Hey that's different...Andre wasn't cheating on you" he defended.

"He may as well had! Around that time, he and I were still trying to pull or relationship back together" she answered, revealing that she felt betrayed by Andre's irresponsibility. However, in her head she knew that Beck and Cat had a point; a point that he didn't actually cheat on her. But for her, it felt like he did.

Maybe it was because of Steven cheating on her, or Ryder using her, but because of her past experiences, she simply was hurt by the thought of someone she loves actually betraying her.

"Hey guys" Robbie said approaching the table with Andre, "Hey" he echoed.

"And a special hey to my lady in red" Robbie added before giving Cat a quick peck on the lips, taking a seat beside her.

Andre sat beside Robbie, trying to ignore the fact that he didn't feel the courage to do the same to Tori.

The table fell silent, signaling that everyone felt the awkward distance.

Jade wasted no time on breaking it, "So Andre, who's the lucky girl?" she teased with a mischievous smirk.

"Jade" Tori said almost in a dry pleading manner.

"What? I'm sure everyone wants to know" she defended.

"Her name's Lauren" he sighed, knowing there was no way around it. He then gave his attention to the spaghetti before him, attempting to swivel the strands of noodle on the fork. Just before he was about to put it in his mouth, Jade interrupted.

" And how long did you know her prior to that eventful night?" She continued to probe, trying to get under his skin of course. She knew Andre since the 7th grade, and because of this she knew just how to push his buttons.

He paused, and responded annoyed yet shamefully "I met her that night, at the party". Following which, he took a bite of his food. Timing him perfectly, as he took a swig of his water Jade asked quickly "So was it good?".

This caused him to choke. He stood up. As he lightly coughed and dabbed his face with a napkin he said to her "umm, can we talk?" obviously irritated.

She smirked "We're talking now, with all of our friends".

"In private!" He said. She succumbed with an eye roll before getting up and following him.

They eventually found themselves in the theatre.

-.-

"What's your deal? Why are you carrying me so hard out there?" He asked immediately as they walked inside.

"What's my deal? A better question would be whats yours? You're the one with the girl drama! Twice Andre, literally twice. What does Tori mean to you?"

Those words left a pang in his chest. He knew that if Jade was bold enough to ask, 9/10 it was what Tori was asking herself.

The fact that it was even a question got to him.

"Don't do that. You know what she means to me. I don't want to hurt her, I never wanted that!" he responded getting caught up in his emotions.

"You're saying one thing yet doing another Dré. How does that work exactly?" Jade threw back at him. " I don't want to hurt her" she mocked him, "precisely a few days later, you hurt her. Then, you guys break up for 2 months, get back together, and you once again say 'I don't want to hurt her'. Yet here we are again. Do you see a trend? Because I do."

"Both the last time and this time are strange situations! I never cheated on her, but both scenarios hint that I did or prove that I have the potential to do so. It's unlucky if you ask me, and a little unfair for you to be this angry with me." he continued to defend. He ran his hand through his hair and started to pace.

Jade sighed at the intensity of their "conversation". "Look Andre, at the end of the day this isn't between you and me, it's between you and Tori. All I'm saying here is that if you can't keep things peaceably together between the both of you, then maybe you should look into that." He looked down and sighed before looking back up at his friend.

"Trust me, I have been. Since the moment I told her." The brown-eyed boy confessed.

"I do believe that you love her" she added "but at a certain point, you realize that in love there are just some things you don't mess with. It's like you, as the guy, gain the responsibility of being responsible for her. Naturally, you've taken up a part of that responsibility from the moment you met her. Hence, you always had her best interest at heart. But the other part of that responsibility is you making responsible decisions to avoid ...something like this."

He fell silent, soaking up her words. Jade was pretty wise for her age, almost as if she had an old soul. Beyond her frequent sarcastic attitude and witty remarks, at her core was something a little different.

"That's all I'm trying to say" she concluded before making her way to the door.

He always heard Beck talk about it, and rarely he'd experience it himself. But every time that he lived through one of those rare moments, it felt as if it were the first. She was right, and he knew it.

"And I appreciate that" he said just as she opened the door to leave.

"I know you do" she smirked at him, and made her exit.

-/-

The bell rang for school to be done for the day. Students flooded the hallways making their way to the exit. Minute by minute, the area became less crowded.

Tori stood at her locker. There, she was trying to exchange books that she would and wouldn't need to take home. As her mind went on the project she had due for the following week, she saw Andre approaching from her peripheral. It was obvious, seeing that he was going in the opposite direction of the crowd.

"Hey" he said forcing a smile.

"Hi, where've you been all day?" She asked, eyes still locked on the task before her. As she closed the locker he answered.

"Had to work on the play's soundtrack during my free period, so that kinda stole my time" he explained rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "How've you been?" he asked, trying to see where her head was at.

She began walking and so did he. " I've been ok, I should be asking you that. You know, with everything going on .." she implied.

He chuckled lightly " I could be better, a little nervous about tomorrow but even more so I've been worrying about you."

"About me? For what?" she asked pretending to be oblivious to what he was referring to. They stood by her car for the duration of the conversation.

"Don't do that, you know why. I'm sure what's going on with me, is affecting you much more than you're letting on." he reasoned. Her eyes stood still looking at him.

" I'm fine" she said shrugging her shoulders, but it wasn't believable.

Tori then turned around and began to open the car door in attempts to avoid the conversation. However, Andre with great speed immediately directed his left hand to hold it shut. At that moment her back remained turned to him.

"Are you happy Tori?" he questioned direly, desperate for an honest response.

She then turned around. For a few seconds, she looked him dead in the eye before saying "I'm happy enough". In that moment he realized that she wasn't herself, or at least got confirmation that she wasn't.

A still silence fell between them. And as Tori wanted, he let her win. Andre leaned in and held a kiss on her forehead, his eyes closed while doing so. And even with the nonchalant façade Tori had going, although Andre didn't see it, she closed her eyes too.

They both got something from that moment. For Andre, it was him giving in to the desire to love her and to fix things. But knowing that he wasn't deserving of it, he settled for the kiss on her hairline. And for Tori, it was the quenching of the desire to feel the love he always showed her. Although wanting to reject it, she was too emotionally exhausted to fight her heart.

Afterwards, he sighed and opened the car door for her, having so much more yet nothing left to say. After she entered, he closed it and watched her drive away.

In that moment of silence, more was said between them than when they were actually speaking.

-/

Updated quicker than usual. Two claps for me? :) Hope you guys appreciate this one. As usual, thank you for the support, consistency, and kind words. You know who you are.

Review, review, review. That goes to the guests too ;) Let me know what you guys think.


	7. Chapter 7

There was a distinct energy attached to hospitals. Maybe it was the smell of injury masked with aroma, or having to sit in the place where both life and death are uncertain. Whatever it was, Andre just hated it and really didn't know why. It was more of a personal dislike, he didn't often express it and not many people knew of it.

But there he sat, waiting patiently on the doctor alongside Lauren and both of her parents. The clock read 9:47am, attesting to the fact that maybe the doctor requested them to come 17 minutes too early. Andre was fidgety. Between him rubbing his hands together, throwing them through his hair, and his tapping feet, the musician couldn't shake hands with peace.

As if he wasn't fearful enough, Lauren's father venomously glanced at him a few times during the wait, and insisted on sitting as far away from him as possible to avoid conflict. But even with the tension between them probing Andre's mind, he could tell that her dad was just as nervous as the rest of them.

"Umm, Lauren Ward?" the nurse said approaching them.

"Yes? That's me." Lauren looked up with eager eyes though they glistened with fear.

"The doctor is ready to see you and your party, follow me" she expressed waving the clipboard in a beckoning gesture.

-.-

"Hello Lauren" the doctor said smiling lightly. The brunette teen smiled faintly at him as a response.

He continued after noting the heavy tension in the room, "Well I'm not going to prolong this, but I do think that I should remind you of how risky it was doing this testing prenatal. It was successful, however we as doctors don't usually do it, and generally wouldn't recommend it."

"Yes, we understand doctor and we appreciate you agreeing to do this for us." expressed Mrs. Ward. She seemingly wanted to know the results more than Lauren did. The anxiety wore on her voice.

"Ok" Dr. Wright began while pulling out the sheet from the file. " The results propose that Andre is not the father without a shadow of a doubt. Of course other than the .1% chance that he is. I'm sorry." he revealed while handing the family the sheet of paper.

Andre released a huge sigh of relief immediately, almost as if he had stopped breathing since they stepped foot into the room. His head fell into his hands in attempts to regain touch with the reality he thought he had lost. Yet although he wanted to be happy, he couldn't be. Especially seeing the family's reaction beside him.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Ward were stunned with surprise, Mrs. Ward seemed to be impacted the most as her eyes began to well up. As Mr. Ward held onto Lauren and his wife in a comforting fashion while saying "it's ok, it's ok" he couldn't help but to think that he would've been happier if it were Andre than to get the results that they did. This meant for them that the search continued, and that Lauren had been experiencing quite a lot behind their backs.

"Mr. and Mrs. Ward, I'll need you to come with me to sign some billing information." Dr. Rivers informed cautiously. They both complied immediately regardless of the news, with Mr. Ward saying "Of course, of course."

This left Andre and Lauren in solitude and silence. He naturally felt the need to be the one to break it. "I'm sorry Lauren" he expressed honestly.

"Don't be." she responded fairly quickly " Truth be told, I knew it wasn't you. I knew that you weren't the father." she confessed, finally drawing her eyes away from the ground to look at Andre who was seated to the far right of her. His expression switched rapidly from sympathy and relief to confusion and more confusion.

Baffled, he chuckled before seriously asking "What? What do you mean that you knew?" he looked at her.

"I mean that I knew." she started before she stood up and said "Really, I should be the one apologizing here. We didn't have sex that night." She confessed. "You wouldn't know that because you passed out in the hallway before I even got you to the room. Your shirt was already off from way before then. You was partying like someone stepped on your heart, drunk out of your mind. And I guess I was going to take advantage of that because I felt the exact same way."

Andre stood up with mixed emotions painted on his face. He looked at her incredulously, trying to find words to say but remained speechless.

" I know, it's crazy. Maybe I'm crazy even, but I had to tell my parents a name. Someone to give them hope that maybe I'm not as much of a wreck as I really am. That name was yours. And after a while, I just began to lie to myself too. I just didn't want to believe that the father of my child was that monster of an ex-boyfriend I had. So in telling them that you may be the father, the lie, it became believable to me even if just for a second. I'm sorry." she honestly offered.

"Wow. You're sorry. You're sorry? I don't think you can even understand the amount of stress and problems this one thing plagued on my life! This didn't only affect me! I have friends and family that were disappointed. I have a girlfriend who's lost almost all faith and trust in me because of this! This was reckless of you." Andre expressed draped in bitterness and anger, which were obviously the colors of the minute.

Taken aback Lauren took a few steps closer to Andre and said "Woah, says the guy that got irresponsibly drunk at a party to the point where he had no recollection! Don't even go there, because really if I didn't tell you the truth you wouldn't have had a choice but to believe the lie! Maybe you can take a lesson from this instead of trying to put me down about what I did. It's not like I wanted to pin this on you! I felt guilty about it every day, literally. But I was more afraid than I felt guilty, and fear makes us do crazy things. I'm guessing you should know that."

He looked at her blue eyes and saw the honesty shine in them. Although he was still appalled and highly irritated, he couldn't really refute what she was saying. He shook his head and looked at the ceiling. "Well, thank you for telling me. You didn't have to but you did. I'm not gonna stand here and pretend to be friends with you, but I'm at least grateful for that. I wish you the best in dealing with everything surrounding the father of your child. As pissed as I am, I can say that I am relieved." he admitted.

"You're welcome I guess. And I wish you the best to you with your friends and your girlfriend, truly." Lauren responded as Andre made his way to leave.

"Thanks" he said semi sarcastically. "And by the way, you are crazy" he teased before walking out of the room.

As Andre approached his Corvette, he checked his watch and it read 10:29am.

He missed his first class and was about 20 minutes away from school.

His phone had 2 missed calls from Beck, none from Tori. He sighed and started the engine.

-.-

"Are they blue or purple?" asked Beck, staring intently at the blueberry between his fingers.

They were all at Nozu hanging out for the night.

Jade glanced over at the fruit in her boyfriend's hand before returning her focus to the girls performing, "Purple".

"I think there's a reason why they call them blueeeberries, they're definitely blue" said Robbie confidently, appalled that Jade would suggest otherwise.

As expected this turned into a debate.

"It's obviously a dark purple Robbie" she rolled her eyes.

"No it's a dark blue!" he countered.

After a futile attempt to get them to stop, Beck politely removed himself from the situation. He saw Tori and Cat by the new Claw Crane machine Mrs. Lee put in the back corner of the restaurant and decided to join them.

"Ughh!" Cat groaned in defeat and anger while Tori shared in her disappointment.

"You girls do know that this game is impossible right?" he said trying to at least pry them from the losing spree they were on.

Tori then turned to look at him knowingly in denial "Pftt, it's not impossible, just...nearly impossible."

"And nearly impossible is just another term for possible!" Cat exclaimed while putting more coins into the machine. This game was added onto her list of addictions .

"Wait, what are you doing? Its my turn." Tori questioned Cat in disbelief.

"Nooo, it's my turn" Cat lied quietly, with guilt written on her face.

"It's been your turn for the last 10 turns!" Tori said baffled.

Beck found their banter and obsession with the machine amusing. He began to laugh, while tossing his hair back.

"Fiinee, you can use MY turn." the animated red-head emphasized "I'm going to order something to drink, brb".

Both Tori and Beck chuckled at their friend.

"Sooo, you-" he started.

"Shh!" the singer interrupted, with eyes locked on the task before her. " I need complete silence to-"

"Eeenk!" Sounded the machine.

"Win." she finished deflated. "This machine is rigged." she added while gliding her right hand through her hair.

"It's what I've been trying to tell you" Beck smiled. As Tori went to give it another try, he looked back to see that Andre had just arrived. He then looked at Tori to catch a glimpse of her reaction, but she was too absorbed in the game to notice. However, she knew. She could hear him from a mile away.

He watched Jade, Robbie and Cat react with joyful surprise in response to whatever he was telling them. He guessed Andre wasn't the father after all. Eager to hear the news he went over to the group, not that Tori would've noticed.

"Andre for the win" laughed Robbie, as they were all pleasantly relieved that he wasn't the father.

"I think it's probably one of the most satisfying feelings that could come with not to having something. Though, if the kid was mine, I would've stepped up to the plate regardless." he admitted.

Andre didn't tell them that Lauren lied. He didn't want to, at least not yet. The only thing he wanted to do was talk to Tori.

He saw her in the distance by the Claw Crane, and automatically was drawn to her. In the middle of the group's talking, his feet guided him there.

When finally beside her, as her eyes were still locked on the game, he said softly "hey".

Tori didn't need to look up to know it was him. His voice always resonated with her, along with his scent.

" How did it go? " she asked still focused on the game intentionally. It was becoming a trend for her to avoid eye contact with him.

"Uhh, it went pretty good for me I guess. Not so good for her, I'm not the father." he expressed, anticipating some sort of reaction from the her.

She simply said "that's good".

Realizing that she wasn't afraid to make the tension between them more obvious, he added " And, turns out I didn't sleep with her ".

This made her pause, but realizing she was giving him what he wanted she returned her focus to the game. "What makes you so certain all of a sudden? "

"She told me." he answered bluntly.

This was enough to make her turn to look at him. "What ?" she asked trying to see if she heard him correctly.

"She told me. Apparently I was so drunk at the party that I didn't even remember whether or not I did. According to her I was passed out in a hallway, and that's where she left me" he explained, finally a little satisfied to have gained her undivided attention.

She looked down at the ground for a few seconds. This made Andre question what was going on in her head, that was until she began to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" he asked highly confused.

Her brown eyes looked up to meet his before answering, "You are. You're so pathetic" she teased, before turning around to give the machine another try.

"What? How am I pathetic? What did I say?" he asked now laughing a bit himself.

"This entire thing, it's sooo Andre Harris-like isn't it?" she responded.

"I guess so, it's tough being me you know? There's no joke in that" he continued to be entertained by his muse. "You really suck at this game don't you?" He added as he watched Tori fail at it for like the 6th time.

"It's not like you can do any better" she said pointedly.

"Let me try." he said accepting her challenge. He was naturally competitive, a Leo by nature.

She refused while swatting his hand away, not wanting to give up the post she waited so long to get from Cat. She finally knew how her friend felt.

He laughed at her, "C'mon Tori. Well at least let me help you".

"Nooo" she continued to refuse.

"Eeenk!" sounded the machine, signaling her loss once again.

He smiled and asked "How about now?"

She didn't answer, but he knew it was because she didn't want to admit that she wanted his help.

He then inched behind her and placed his right hand over hers on the joystick. His chest was against her back and his head hovering and looking over the right side of her shoulder.

She blushed at this, although she tried her best to fight it.

"You want that tiger cub right? Press start" he said to her.

And so she did. As he moved the joystick with her hand, she realized that he did it at a different pace. Although she moved it slowly with tons of focus, his motion was more slow and steady. It was almost like a slow dance for their hands, she got so caught up in the moment that she barely realized when they won.

The blaring sound of the machine went off, signaling their victory and Tori's eyes glowed with surprise and satisfaction. Yet, slowly her face fell back in awe and desire of the guy that didn't seem to want to let her hand go. His eyes met hers as she turned her head to meet his. Andre's heart sped up significantly, he could hear it pounding in his head, as did Tori's.

Catering to the sound, they both began to inch closer with the intent to kiss, but just as their lips grazed each other's Tori took a breath in and pulled away.

The brunette quickly replaced the passion running between them with joy for the fact that they had won.

"Yayy! We won!" she said giving him a quick hug and pulling the stuffed tiger from the machine.

He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw at this, but immediately went with the flow. "Yea, we did."

Cat quickly came over to celebrate with Tori. "Howw?" she squealed laughing.

"It was Andre, his hands are magical apparently" they laughed. "Thanks Dré" she added.

He sighed before saying with a forced smile "yea, it's no problem".

"Yeah good job Dré." implicitly mocked Beck, who had been watching him and Tori from where he sat the entire time.

Andre looked at him and shook his head before heading for the table where Jade and Robbie were seated.

"Looks like we caught an unhappy camper" the blue eyed girl said while sipping on her glass of green tea.

"The only thing unhappy about me is my stomach. Im starving." Andre steered the conversation elsewhere.

Jade allowed it and responded " For a guy who skipped school today, you really shouldn't be hungry. You've literally had access to food all day."

"Seriously. Why did you skip school anyway?" Robbie added, honestly curious. "The appointment couldn't have been that long."

" Nah, it wasn't. I was done sometime after 10. I just wasn't feeling it really, was kinda stressed about the results for a few days so I just used the time to rest and look into colleges." he explained while stealing sushi from Jade's plate.

"Beck and I agreed to go to UCLA for the first 2 years, maybe you should look into that too" Jade responded while going to take a bite of her sushi.

Andre and Robbie looked at each other with a strange and surprised expression. Jade didn't noticed and questioned it immediately. "What's that look about?" she questioned almost demandingly.

"Nothing" Andre brushed it off unbelievably nonchalant. However, Robbie didn't quite have the same skill to play off the situation.

Trying to follow suit, he chuckled nervously before saying "Yeah, nothing"

Jade immediately snapped at him seeing that he was the weaker link of the two, "Robbie!".

Andre quickly interceded in a warning tone "Rob.."

"Just because I don't take my scissors around with me anymore doesn't mean that I can't find them." she threatened.

Feeling pressured beyond sanity, his eyes shifted between his two friends before he finally broke his guard. "Beck may not be going to UCLA!"

Andre closed his eyes and sighed.

"What? He is going, it's what we agreed to." she said in disbelief.

"Well he may be, but he just seems to be really interested in NYU...he sorta applied and everything" Robbie said trying to defend his friend, but seemingly only made it worse.

"NYU? Wow." Jade's eyes then found Beck who was still by the Claw Crane talking with Tori and Cat. She then got up with her bag and went to approach him.

"Jade" Andre called following closely behind trying to stop her. To no avail, she continued.

"Hey babe, I was just saying that it's time to leave" he said before picking up on the rage in her eyes. "What's up?" he questioned confused.

"I want to go home." she said seriously, following which she headed for the door.

Beck looked at Andre and Robbie with a questioning look before shaking his head and following her. "Catch you guys tomorrow" he said to Cat and Tori while walking after his girlfriend who had just left the building.

-/

Hope you enjoyed the read, and please review. I read all of 'em ;) . More to come soon.

Super shoutout to LamarLaver and Dobby99 for the continual support and dedication, I appreciate it a ton. :) Also, a special thanks to Jhutch10, Kimlavina, RemzTrek, and Guest for the kind words of encouragement.

XxXx Much love.


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